Dax really is my Ariadne - he has led me on such fantastic trips through the city. I couldn't imagine anyone else suggesting my route for this task, and it seemed a fitting closure to this stage of our friendship. When he moves back to San Francisco, I will lose my fellow urban nomad. I was so pleased that he agreed to share some of his favorite places with me.

I decided that I would follow his "thread" just as he had handed it to me. It was not at all the most efficient route from place to place, but I felt I shouldn't change it - the lines drawn between the places were in Dax's memory, and I wanted to honor that. You can see the map here.

1. Saint Charles Airline Bridge - This was by far my favorite of the things that Dax chose that I hadn't yet seen. It is massive, elegantly imposing. I spent a whole hour looking at and around it, and that wasn't nearly enough time. I tore myself away because I had so much more to see, but I will return to this bridge. This is one of the things I will miss most about Dax's company - he knows where the cool stuff is. While I was taking photos, a security vehicle pulled up next to me. I thought, "Oh, shit, not ALREADY?!", but the elderly guard just said I should be careful of traffic. He told me he was "an old railroad buff", started talking about bridges, and we had the beginnings of what would have been a fascinating conversation, if he hadn't have had to move to allow a big truck pass him down the narrow street.

2. Field Museum - I had to go down Roosevelt to get to the museum. This is one of the streets Dax and I scouted for Journey to the End of the Night. I also passed the Roosevelt CTA station, which is where Dax, Spidere, and I parted ways after our exciting completion of Urban Exploration 1. Though I lived in the city for ten years previous to my move to New Orleans, so much of what I know of the layout of Chicago has been influenced by Dax. In fact, the Field Museum is where we first met in meatspace, when he graciously attended my steampunk scavenger hunt there.

3. Jumping Bean Cafe - I ate lunch here. It was busy with other people having their lunches at 1pm, too. The food was excellent, though the service was understandably a bit rushed and impersonal. It's housed in a beautiful building - I also liked the building across the street, but I couldn't find any info on it after searching a bit online. Ironically, my only other experience eating in the Pilsen neighborhood (also excellent), was half a block away at the Taqueria Cardenas, where my most recent ex-lover brought me on past occasion.

4. 2846 W. 21st Street - This is a private residence, an apartment building with a Gothic-style facade, complete with gargoyle downspouts. I have found that, disappointingly, Chicago doesn't have very many gargoyles, so it was a pleasure to visit these little guys.

5. Aji Ichiban - I like Asian candy. It's pretty weird, and can be disgusting to the American taste, but it's fun. I live near a huge Japanese mall and usually get my candy there. Aji Ichiban has a much wider selection - I bought a big bag with the intent to bring some to Dax's going-away party to share, if I haven't eaten it all by then. I used to work in Chinatown, and if you want the broader story on that, see the photos below.

6. Kinzie Street Bridge - Dax introduced me to this bridge on one of our Journey scouting missions, and I promptly fell in love with it. I get to see it almost every day on my way to work, I have taken a million photos of it, and I have scavenged rusty pieces of it so I can carry it with me whenever I feel like doing so. I proudly salute Sutro as our enduring symbol of drive, but the Kinzie Bridge has my heart.

7. Hotel Intercontinental - I had heard about this hotel on an architecture tour I took a few months ago, and I meant to see it anyway, so thank you, Dax, for the kick in the pants. I took the twenty-minute self-guided audio tour, and the place is really gorgeous and historically valuable, if a bit bizarre. I only wish we actually were docking airships there.

8. Deering Bridge - Ah, our team headquarters, how awesome you are! I have so many great memories of time spent here - once again, all thanks to Dax. I'm still trying to figure out why I love the Kinzie Bridge more, as they are nearly identical and I have a much more intimate relationship with this one. Dax, come visit next summer and we'll look for the tunnels.

9. We Like Your Bike sign - Installed in April 2008, and it's still there. It's a good legacy.

10. Heart of Gold - Such a great little speakeasy! :) I have had the pleasure of seeing Dax perform here three times. They sure could use some industrial fans, though.

11. Graceland Pool - I used to spend a lot of time here when I was much younger, but it's been more than ten years since the last time. It was lovely to come back at sunset and revisit my favorite spots. I had forgotten how beautiful this cemetery is.

12. Museum of Surgical Science - I knew where this was, but I have never been to it. It's closed on Mondays, so I didn't have make a special effort to get here at any given time, and was thus able to preserve the "thread's" integrity. I will see it someday - I have been to the Mutter Museum in Philadelphia, and I've heard ours here in Chicago described as "the Mutter's little brother." So, yes, Dax, I probably will love it.

13. 3200 W. Carroll - Big warehouse in the dark. Full of puppets. Didn't I see this movie already?

14. Brownlands off Taylor - Sere, chilly autumn fields. Foreboding, fenced-in, backlit underpasses. Radio tower straining into the heavy night sky. A good ending to my labyrinthine wanderings, a reminder of the coming winter.

Our steward Dax has taken good care of us, San Francisco. Please see that you take good care of him.